As Buyout Rumors Swirl, Spirit AeroSystems Lays Off Workers

Spirit AeroSystems is rumored to be in buyout talks with a British bidder, sending the Wichita, Kansas-based airplane parts builder soaring in Thursday trading. But not everyone's cheering.

Simultaneous with rumors of the apparent interest from Britain's GKN Plc comes a concrete fact: Spirit has announced that it will be laying off approximately 360 salaried support staff and management employees at its Kansas and Oklahoma facilities.

Making the announcement, Spirit described itself as "a strong company with a robust backlog of approximately $36 billion." The company says it's doing the layoffs, however, as "a strategic move to make the company more competitive in a cost-sensitive environment."

While, technically, slightly profitable on a GAAP-accounting basis, Spirit has operated at a negative 0.14% operating profit margin over the past 12 months.